US high court to decide on allowing Vioxx suits

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Source: AP

The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether shareholders can sue Merck & Co. (MRK) over whether the drugmaker provided adequate information about the risks of its former blockbuster painkiller Vioxx before it was pulled from the market.

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Investors had accused Merck of providing misleading information or omitting information about the risks of Vioxx. A U.S. district judge dismissed the November 2003 lawsuit on grounds of a statute of limitations.

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided to allow the lawsuits and Merck appealed to the Supreme Court.


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Merck is currently making payments to patients and survivors under a $4.85 billion settlement that ends lawsuits on behalf of roughly 50,000 patients who claimed Vioxx harmed them.

Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20090526/D98E1JH82.html